Arrows Running News - February 2024

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Category: Club Schedule
Published: Thursday, 01 February 2024 00:00

February News

We hope that as we go into February your New Year's Resolutions are still on track, any dry Januarys were successful and you're planning your year ahead with Arrows.

As a quick recap at the end of December, we had the annual end-of-year drink/curry (Ed's Curry). We had a good turnout of members starting at the Inn on the Green and then eating a lovely curry in the Cinnamon. Also, just for those not aware Dean Murley was the lucky recipient of the EA place in the London Marathon which will take place on the 21st of April.

January has had a few events including a bumper number of members at Fred Hughes and also one of our largest turnouts at the club in a while with 27 people!

Into February and we have the AGM / social event on Saturday 3rd February at Aldwickbury Golf Club. We’ve had a great response and we look forward to seeing everyone. The AGM will start at 6.30pm (members only) and the social event at 7.30pm. Thanks to Sharon and Anita for planning everything so far!

At the event, we'll be drawing a raffle for the Physio session donated by Russell Stocker, won by me and then by Audrey. It would appear that there were only a few people who saw this being promoted - so Audrey kindly put it back into the raffle to potentially raise more donations for Sport in Mind. Raffle 'tickets' are achieved for each £5 donation made at a Just Giving page https://www.justgiving.com/page/james-lenaghan-1700820481398. Let me know if you've made an anonymous donation, otherwise we'll use the donation page to work out who's in the draw. Further tickets can be bought on the night and we'll do the draw at some point during the celebrations.  

A point for your consideration: We are going to change the format of the Club 5k as numbers have been dwindling over the past months. What, if anything, could replace it until the Spring when it should return to the Nickey Line? We're considering a set-piece tempo run (Tempo Tuesday / Thursday) for everyone to join in, but would welcome other ideas too. Please let Simon know – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Finally...   as promised in the last edition, we thought we’d take the opportunity to provide a “Review of the Year for 2023” to show all of your amazing achievements.  Please find this below and thanks to Sharon for compiling it!

All the best, Sharon & Speirsy.

For now, this issue contains:

  1. What's been going on?
  2. What's coming up?
  3. This Month's Club Timetable
  4. Dates for the Diary
  5. General Notices and Reminders

As ever, please do join the Facebook group as we may have missed something and post updates about any proposed Parkrun tourism or other festive events.

A review of 2023

In no particular order, please see below. Congratulations to everyone for their participation throughout the year.

  • London Marathon:
    • Steve Green had been the lucky recipient of the EA place in the 2023 London Marathon. He completed the course in an amazing time of 3.49. Apart from running a virtual marathon around Harpenden, this was his first-ever marathon.
  • Arrows were also represented in various Marathons / Half Marathons around the world:
    • Marathons
      • London
      • Tokyo
      • Milton Keynes
      • Brighton
      • Manchester
      • Beer Fancy Dress
      • Cologne (both individual and team)
      • Cape Town
      • Berlin
      • Chicago
      • Yorkshire
      • Chelmsford
    • Half Marathons
      • Hong Kong
      • Cambridge
      • Berkhamsted
      • St Albans
      • Kirkcaldy
      • Cologne
      • London Parks
      • Oxford
      • St Neots
      • Victoria
  • Arrows continue to support parkrun every Saturday. Many have achieved milestones of 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 throughout the year, as well as the alphabet challenge. Special mention goes to Scott Clarke, AKA Mr. parkrun, on reaching the incredible milestone of 400.  There have also been Arrows running in pretty distant places around the globe.
  • Some fun facts from parkrun this year:
    • 155 Arrows have completed 1898 parkruns at 286 different events
    • The biggest turnout of the year was 54 people on the 30th of September (the day before the Cologne marathon)
    • Most popular parkruns are Luton Wardown (475), St Albans (238), Jersey Farm (218), Houghton Hall (139), Panshanger (72) and Dunstable Downs (49)
    • Fastest female Laura Hicks – 20.14 at St Albans on 3rd June
    • Fastest male Paul Goodwin – 17.22 at Gorleston Cliffs on 30th December
    • Most parkruns – Mark Pattison (52), Philip Dean (49), Scott Clarke (48), Julie Horrocks, Taras Huzar, June Rowlands (43)
    • Most runs at a single event – David Green at Luton Wardown (33)
    • Most different events – Scott Clarke (48)
    • Biggest total distance from Harpenden – Mark Pattison (26,212 km)
  • Furthest runners from Harpenden – Janice Nisbet and Brian Yates (Launceston, Australia), Julian Jones (Point Cook, Australia), Jessica Axelson (Betty’s Bay, South Africa), Johanna and Mark Woodcock (Zandvlei and Constantia Greenbelt, South Africa), Jennifer Finlay (Hikarigaoka Koen, Japan), Nacho Vincente Sanchez (Tsurumi Ryokuchi, Japan), Lyndon Hearn (Midstream, South Africa), David Green and Louise Crosby (Rock Creek Trail, USA), Mark Pattison (Clover Point, Canada)

    Thanks also to Julie Horrocks who has taken over the organising of parkrun tourism which typically takes place once a month.
  • Following the AGM, the following awards were presented:
    • Members Award               Anita White
    • Newcomer                        Phil Dean / Janie Morris
    • Committee Award             Mark Pattison / Issy and Steve Green
    • Fastest Club 5k                Inga Cobb / Ian Bryson
    • Superstar Performer         Aishling Patterson
    • Outstanding Achievement Scott Clarke
  • Club League winners for 2023 were Jo Davies and Bryan Yates. A marvellous achievement by both, many congratulations.  We look forward to awarding them their trophies at the Annual Dinner.
    • Final 2023 Club League standings
      • Male
        • Brian Yates 546
        • Mark Pattison 500
        • Andrew Bracey 467
        • Muiris O’Connell 457
        • Taras Huzar 455
        • Philip Dean 388
        • Doug Walmsley 381
        • Adrian Cloake 337
        • Mark Hoefield 328
      • Female
        • Jo Davies 666
        • Aisling Patterson 496
        • Isabel Green 411
        • Lynne Miles 396
        • Tracy Carr 371
        • Audrey Zillox 344
        • Karen Wilkins 340
        • Janice Nisbet 310
        • Claire Watts 302
  • The MWRRL consisted of 5 races, with Arrows again hosting the event in June. Thank you to everyone who ran or helped to organise the event. The Club will remain in Division III for 2024. A few notable mentions are:
    • Division 3 teams
      • 1st Vet men – Arrows
      • 2nd overall Vet team – Arrows
    • Individual
      • 1st lady V45 Aisling Patterson
      • 2nd men V40 Giles Horridge
      • 3rd men V40 Adrian Cloake
      • 3rd lady V45 Karen Wilkins
  • Individual achievements which merit a special mention are:
    • The Spine Race – Roger Montgomery
    • Camino Trail – Patrick McGuinness
    • Ultra Trail Snowden – Ammon Piepgrass / Terry Atkinson
    • St Columbus Way – Mark Hammond
    • Two Oceans Ultra – Lyndon Hearn
    • The Hobbit – Lyndon Hearn
    • 50k Guiding – Ammon Piepgrass
    • World Triathlon Championships Audrey Zillox Herrback
  • Arrows participated in numerous races throughout the year including, what an impressive list....
    • 10x Monthly Arrows Club 5k
    • ~20 Track Nights
    • Herts Senior XC
    • XC County Vets
    • 5x Herts Sunday League XC
    • 5x MWRRL
    • Fred Hughes 10; the ladies picked up a County bronze medal
    • National Championships
    • Bedford 10
    • Watford Half Marathon
    • Grisdale Half
    • Ashridge Boundary
    • Sandy 10
    • Oakley 20
    • British Orienteering Championship
    • St Albans Easter 10k
    • Flitwick 10k
    • Hitchin 10k
    • Wheathampsted 10k
    • Oval Run
    • Summer Solstice
    • Ware 10 miles
    • Fairlands Valley Challenge
    • Hatfield 5k series
    • Herts 10k
    • “I run for beer”
    • St Albans Sixer
    • Stopsley 10 mile
    • Stampede 12-hour team event
    • Great North Run
    • Leighton 10k
    • The Last Dual Trial Run
    • Linlithgow 10k
    • Stevenage 10
    • Relay Triathlon
    • The Big Half
    • Coastal AA (South Africa)
    • Autumn 100
    • Victora Park 10k
    • Dawn to Dusk Ultra
    • Xmas Lights Run
    • Chase the Moon, Battersea Park 5k
    • Buntingford Year-End 10 miles

Finally, we would also like to thank all of our volunteers and Run Leaders for all of the support and help you have given throughout the year, we couldn’t run these events without you all.

1. What's been going on

Highlights since our last edition

  • The Arrows Club League 2024 has now been finalised. A couple of races have been added to keep the competition going throughout the year. A full list is now available on Arrows website here.

  • We had a bumper turnout of Arrows and great results at Fred Hughes. Well done to Ian Bryson with his podium at the Hearts Vets championship. This is an annual event and now forms part of the Club League so do make a mental note to enter for 2025 if you are interested.

  • Ian Bryson also achieved third place at the Welwyn Half. Congratulations, as he managed to miss a turn which added an extra 400m!!

  • The ATW Bedford 5 and 10 miles event took place on the 28th of January. A lovely two-lap course alongside the river and around the lake. First in age category for Janie Morris, Louise Crosby and John Rowlands. A shout out to David Russell who missed his first in age by 8 seconds!! Great achievements.

  • The Club 5k race took place on the 23rd of January, a very damp and windy evening. We had 5 runners running the winter course.  Thanks as always to the volunteers - we had an amazing 10 people turn up to help, but with the dwindling numbers, the 5k is on the back-burner for the meanwhile until Spring.

  • As always there has been great representation at parkrun. There was no parkrun tourism in January, but see below for the February date – we hope to see you there.

2. What's coming up

Several things to take note of for the coming months!

  1. Track nights – First Tuesday of the month so we are back at Stockwood Park on Tuesday 6th of February.

    Please aim to arrive for 6.45 pm for a prompt start at 7 pm.

  2. Replacement Club 5k Night / Social – Will take place on Tuesday 27th of February. Please turn up at the usual time of 7:15 pm.

  3. Sunday League Cross County Races – The last race of the season will take place on Sunday 18th of February at Royston Heath. Each event will be posted on the Arrows Facebook event page with all the organisers' details. Cross country is great fun and should make you faster so do give it a go.  No entry is required, just get there in time, Wear your Arrows top/vest, run, pick up a token, note your name, and finish-token number on the Arrows sheet. If you can’t run, do consider coming along to support or marshal.

  4. Arrows Marathon weekend – Will take place in 2024 in Salzburg. Dates are 10th – 13th of May. See FB page (Salzburg marathon weekend) for more information if you are interested. This is a fun weekend, please speak to anyone who has been before if you’d like more information.

Please feel free to suggest impromptu socials post-event or even attempt a pub visit post-run - which has proven successful in these past months.

3. Club timetable for February

As ever, a combination and variety of running is available. We're trying to offer 4m, 5m, hills and/or speed sessions. Is there any interest in a shorter 5km run? Please let us know. All combinations rely on RunLeaders taking care of existing, new and potential joiners to Arrows. If you don't feel you have the confidence or skills to do this... we'll help. Please let us know.

REMEMBER

  1. As the nights are now dark remember to wear high viz and head torches (don’t forget to charge them up).

  2. Any new members - please pre-register on RunTogether, this will help the admin to register you just at the start of each run.

Start times:

St G's club runs: 7:15 arrival for 7:30 departure.
Club 5k: 6:45 for a 7:15 start
Track: start at 7:00

Tuesdays

 

06/02 - Stockwood Park track night (7 pm) & Road at St G's (7:30 pm)

13/02 - Hills / Road at St Gs (7:30 pm)

20/02 - Hills / Speed / Road at St Gs (7:30 pm)

27/02 - Club 5k replacement (Tempo Tuesday?) + Social (7:30 pm at St G's)

Thursdays

01/02 - Regular St G's Road / Trail runs (7:30 pm)

08/02 - Regular St G's Road / Trail runs (7:30 pm)

15/02 - Regular St G's Road / Trail runs (7:30 pm)

22/02 - Regular St G's Road / Trail runs (7:30 pm)

29/02 - Regular St G's Road / Trail runs (7:30 pm) 

Track Nights at Stockwood

Please aim to arrive by 6:45 pm for a prompt start at 7 pm.

2. Dates for the Diary

Look out for special announcements on email or Facebook for the XC and other events.

Upcoming Races

  • parkrun tourism - Saturday 17th of February - Venue TBC.
  • Final XC - Venue: Royston - Sunday 18th of February.
  • Arrows away marathon weekend - 10th - 13th of May.

 

3. General Notices

Free t-shirt for RunLeaders

We've distributed a few and got a few more on order - but we're always on the lookout for more run leaders to share the load of helping people out with their runs.

If you're good with a route or two and would like to lead runs for Arrows, please let us know! We are always looking for more people to join our core team, either as occasional helpers or as regular run-leaders. All you need is confidence and we'll give you more of that and some of the knowledge to keep everyone safe - it's not onerous and a lot of it is common sense.

If you're interested in leading please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and ask for more info.

Kit Shop: The club shop can be found here:

https://www.iprosports.co.uk/club-zone/harpenden-arrows/

The range of available kit includes club vests and t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, caps, beanies, and a new line of colourful hi-viz t-shirts bearing the club logo.

All kit can be personalised with names or messages on the front, back or both – so no more melting your t-shirt trying to iron on wonky letters (or was that just me)?

If you would like to see or try on any of the kit samples, please come along to our monthly 5km, Kit and Cake night, and speak to our kit secretary, Rowland Hughes. (email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

 

10% OFF SPORTSSHOES.COM - February code

If you haven't found what you want from the Arrows online kit shop, we have secured a 10% discount code specifically for Arrows, plus there's free shipping for orders of £30 or more from www.sportsshoes.com.

This is redeemed via a unique discount code, which is changed monthly.

Please do not share the code with non-members. Any Arrows in receipt of the code must not share it on social media or any public websites.

This month's code valid for July 2023 has been sent by email to paid-up members. 


Active Training World 10% off race entry with the code ....

(Sent by email to all paid-up Arrows Members)

We have some exciting news for you - Arrows have obtained a 10% discount for members on all ATW races. Why not use it for entering the Hatfield 5-mile event this November? Fast, flat and local race with PB potential. (Webmaster - and Arrows League points too!)

Just enter the code at the checkout to obtain your 10% Arrows discount. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS FOR ATW ORGANISED EVENTS (there will be a big banner on the site when an ATW event. Please do try to avoid confusion as occasionally ATW provide the booking system/support and the 10% fee is not available on these occasions).

Please do not share the code with non-members. Any Arrows in receipt of the code must not share it on social media or any public websites.

Can you marshal for an ATW event?

Earn £20 and free race entry, or £10 per hour, in exchange for marshalling at ATW events. 

If you're interested in marshalling, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

#JustTurnUp - St George's runs on Tuesdays and Thursdays

If you want to attend any of our regular run groups at St George's, please #JustTurnUp on the night. No pre-booking is required for our regular runs from St George's. 

We will also always adapt any run groups to those that turn up on the night, or if possible form additional groups to suit varied paces. Nobody will be left behind and we operate a *looping policy if we happen to have a wide pace range in the group.

*That means that faster runners are asked to loop back to keep the group together.

Safety reminder for Arrows Club 5km events

Please note, for the safety of all members when participating in the Club 5km event, the following advice applies:

No headphones. For your own safety and to ensure you can hear instructions from marshals and cars on the road, headphones are not permitted whilst taking part in any club activity. If you are seen wearing headphones during the Club 5km event, you may be disqualified!

Wear high visibility clothing and/or your Arrows vest - this makes it easy to see you running on the dark roads.

 

Stay safe everyone, and stay well!

Thank you for supporting your club. If you have concerns or suggestions please get in touch.

Harpenden Arrows Running Club

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.